


Auspicious Day

by orphan_account



Series: Enchanted Worlds [27]
Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-09
Updated: 2014-10-09
Packaged: 2018-02-20 12:54:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2429591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bonus prequel short story, showing the celebration of Uzura's birthday shortly before the beginning of A Kind of Magic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Auspicious Day

Her work cautiously declared to be done, Rue leaned forward to closely inspect the results for any mistakes. Unlikely though it was that the recipient of this hand-painted gift would notice any miniscule errors, the one who'd made it simply could not abide any, and needed to be sure once and for all that none existed. And so the carefully done paintwork found itself under a scrutiny so intense it would have made any living thing sweat with anxiety. If anything was wrong with it, she _would_ find and fix it.

She knew, on some level, that she was being a bit silly and overzealous; but she couldn't help it in the end. A long-standing perfectionist streak had joined forces with her love for Uzura, making it impossible for her to look at her work with anything but the most critical eye. It had to be just right. It had to be flawless. Nothing less would suffice.

At last, however, she concluded that she'd done her work well and no obvious errors could be spotted, so with a small smile of satisfaction she set about preparing it for giving away. A box was procured for placing it in, and after that was done wrapping paper and ribbons were applied, along with a tag she'd written out the night before, giving it a festive look that would be appreciated for maybe ten seconds before they were ripped off and discarded. But that was okay; that was the whole point of it, even. Maybe. Either way, she'd enjoy seeing the reaction to what hid inside the well-wrapped box.

A glance at the clock when she was done revealed that she was running a bit behind, no doubt due to her obsession with making it perfect, so with much haste she finished looking herself over before rushing downstairs and through the doors leading out to the gardens. She spotted the large table that had been laid out with all manner of treats for the occasion, and slowed her steps so that she could catch her breath before she joined the others, privately thankful that it was unusually cool for an August day. Shame burned in her as she realized she was the last to arrive, and she prayed no one would take her to task for it.

"Rue!" Uzura greeted her before the others could, clapping her little hands in joy. "You're here zura!"

"Yes, I am," Rue said with a smile. "I'm not late, am I?"

"Not at all." Chrestomanci shook her head and smiled. "Go ahead and –"

"Is that my present zura?" Uzura peered over the table at the package held in Rue's arms.

"Yes, but you can't open it right now," Rue said, laughing. "That's for after we eat." She set the box down on the side table where Chrestomanci and Fakir had put theirs, and then seated herself at the main table.

"Ooooohhhh. Okay zura." The other three shared amused glances amongst themselves at that reaction – apparently, the need for food outweighed the desire to open every present immediately. "Can we eat now zura?"

"Of course." Chrestomanci ruffled her daughter's hair before placing a napkin on her lap. "Dig in, enjoy."

"Yaaaaaay zura!"

When asked what kind of party she wanted for her birthday, Uzura had requested a tea party, no doubt influenced by some book or other that had gotten read to her before bed. Thus a tea party she got. The table had been positively loaded down with all sorts of sandwiches and various breads and rolls and buns, and some freshly baked scones as well, not to mention tea and sugar and milk. And even with so many sweets to eat a birthday cake sat waiting at the far end, decorated with brightly colored icing and a few candles.

When they'd all eaten their fill, a couple of servants came out to clear the table of all but the cake and the plates and utensils necessary for eating it. Now came Uzura's favorite part: the opening of gifts while they let their food settle before digging into the cake.

"Which one do you want to open first?" Chrestomanci asked. Uzura was staring, rapt, at the gifts piled on the table and seemed to be having trouble deciding. "You can pick any one, and start from there."

"I don't know zura…" Uzura turned worried eyes on her mother. "Is it important zura? Do I still get all the gifts zura?"

"Yes, of course you do." Chrestomanci chuckled and ruffled Uzura's hair again. "Don't worry – it doesn't really matter which order you go in, they're all yours to keep regardless."

"Oooooohhhh. That's good zura." Uzura pondered the gifts a little more, and then picked one from the stack. "This one then zura."

"A good choice. That one is from…" Chrestomanci checked the label that had been attached. "Mr. Katz. You'll have to be sure to thank him later."

"Yes zura," Uzura said obediently, even as she began to gleefully tear at the wrapping paper and mangle the ribbons. A minute or so later, the present Mr. Katz had prepared for her spilled into her lap: a large coloring book with a set of crayons attached, and a small stuffed toy cat. "Ooooohhh… a kitty from the kitty zura!"

"Ah, that's…" Chrestomanci caught herself, and shook her head. There was a time and place for correcting Uzura about this misconception she had about Mr. Katz, but now was not it. "Yes. What a lovely gift, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun coloring in this book."

"Yes zura." Uzura hugged the toy cat tightly, and then carefully set it down on the table before going for the next present. "Hmmm… this one now zura."

"Ah, yes, that one is from Raetsel." Both Fakir and Rue's eyes were drawn to her at the mention of that name. "She sent a letter too, apologizing for not being able to be here, but she promises to be here for your next party." Chrestomanci eyed the carefully wrapped gift with interest. "Let's see what she got you." The letter had also contained an apology for not knowing much about what Uzura's interests were, and a hope that this was an okay gift.

"Yes zura!" Uzura set to demolishing the paper and ribbons on this one too, and swiftly revealed a child's beginner gardening set. It came with all the proper tools, made in a size appropriate for small hands, some potting soil, a few pots, and seed packets for herbs, vegetables, and even a couple flowers. "Oooohhh… I can grow stuff like Raetsel zura!"

"So you like it then?" Chrestomanci asked.

"Yes zura!" Uzura nodded enthusiastically.

"That's good." She smiled and relaxed. "I'll write Raetsel back and tell her; she'll be very happy to hear that."

"How is she, anyway?" Rue asked. "Still in London?" Her tone took on a distinctly wistful note. "Still traveling all around the Related Worlds?"

"Yes." Chrestomanci nodded, her eyes straying to where Uzura had now begun to shred the paper on the largest gift of all: her own gift to her daughter. "She's hoping to move back sometime in the near future, however – she and her fiancé want to settle down in Derkholm once everything's all sorted, and we'll see her more at the castle once that's done."

"Really?" Rue frowned thoughtfully. "I can't imagine giving up an exciting life like that to come move back to _Derkholm_ … but then again, I suppose it would be hard to sustain a new marriage if one person's traveling all the time to other worlds."

Chrestomanci opened her mouth to say something on the matter, but was interrupted by Uzura's loud cry of joy. "Ooooohhh! A dollhouse zura!"

"Yes, that's Mama's gift for you." She smiled. The dollhouse had been custom built for her by a friend in London, and was fully furnished with dolls and all sorts of furniture and miniature items. "Do you like it?"

"I love it zura!" Uzura clapped her hands together. "Thank you zura!"

"You're very welcome." Chrestomanci smiled. "I'm happy you like it."

In fact, she liked it so much that the three remaining presents sat neglected while Uzura admired the dollhouse, and even inspected some of the dolls. At last, however, the desire to see what else she'd been given overwhelmed her desire to play with this magnificent new toy, and she put the doll she was holding down on one of the small sofas inside and grabbed a box off the table.

"That one is from Charon, I believe," Chrestomanci said. A quick glance at the other two presents confirmed it – she could see the neat handwriting of both Rue and Fakir on the individual tags. She knew also that Charon had left a gift here, so even though the tag he'd attached was now lying face down on the grass, a look at the other tags was sufficient to determine that this one came from him, by sheer process of elimination. "Oh – how lovely…"

"Oooohhh…" Uzura lifted the unusual gift out of its box. A wirework headband of sorts, it had two hearts made of a sparkly pink material attached to it by wire coils. The hearts, therefore, would bounce around a bit when the headband was worn. "I wear this zura?"

"Looks that way." It was the first words Fakir had said since a few requests at lunch to pass him things like sugar and butter, and Rue pretended to start in surprise at the sound of his voice. He ignored her dramatic display and kept his attention on Uzura. "Do you want to try it on now?"

"Yes zura!" Uzura nodded. "Will you put it on zura?"

"Of course." Fakir carefully took the little thing from Uzura's hands, and placed it on her head, cautious not to snag any of her hair. As he'd suspected, the hearts bounced a bit as he backed away and Uzura lifted her head and looked all around. It was so cute that he couldn't help but break out into a small smile. "It looks good. He did good work."

"I look good zura?"

"Yeah." He nodded, still smiling. "We'll have to get a picture of you later."

"Sounds good to me. And you can pose next to her," Rue said with a smirk, knowing how much Fakir _loved_ posing for pictures.

The smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared, turning to a familiar glare that he briefly directed at Rue before returning his focus to Uzura. "There are two presents left… which one do you want now?"

"This one zura." She grabbed the flat, somewhat thin package Fakir had wrapped, and sat back down in her chair. "Who's this one from zura?"

"… That's from me." He sat back down next to her. "I hope you like it."

"I'm sure she'll love anything you got her," Chrestomanci said, smiling.

The paper came off easily, and Uzura lifted the lid off the small box to reveal a book. "Oooohhhh… a book zura!"

"Yeah. And look…" Fakir opened it, and Uzura gasped in delight as a tree sprang up off the page to stand upright. "It's a pop-up book. And it shows things from all over the Related Worlds, with things about every series and the different worlds within each Series."

"My." Rue's smirk reappeared. "How… educational."

Fakir glowered at her. "Her education is very important. I don't see anything wrong with such a gift, especially since it'll make learning fun for her."

"I didn't say it –" Rue started, but Chrestomanci interrupted.

"Yes, I agree, it will be very fun for her. I think it's a very thoughtful gift." She had a steely look in her eye that she directed towards both Rue and Fakir, warning them without words not to begin bickering, not here, not now. "Thank you, Fakir. Did you thank him, Uzura?"

"Thank you zura." Uzura turned to Fakir. "Will you read it to me later zura?"

"… Of course." His expression softened into another small smile, and it was his turn to ruffle her hair. "Before bed, I'll come to your room and we'll look at it together. All right?"

"Hooray zura!" Uzura clapped, nearly knocking the book off her lap and onto the ground, but fortunately her mother saved it and put it back on the table. She then handed Uzura the last gift before she could hop out of her chair.

"And that one is from me," Rue said, before Chrestomanci could announce it. "I hope you'll have fun with it, Uzura." She couldn't help but laugh to herself as the careful job she'd done wrapping was undone in an instant, the prettily tied ribbon tossed aside with other trash. She didn't mind, though, the real fun was in seeing – hopefully – delight on Uzura's face as she uncovered the treasure within.

To her relief, delight was indeed the emotion expressed when Uzura opened up the box. "Ooooohhhh! A drum zura!" She lifted the little drum, with its strap attached so that she could wear it without having to carry it, out of the box along with the drumsticks. "I can play music zura!"

"That you can." Rue smiled. "I bought it at a toy shop, but it was very plain, so I painted it in a way I hope you like. What do you think?"

"It's wonderful zura!" She clapped her hands again. "I want to play it now zura!"

"You _could_ do that," Chrestomanci said. "Or, we could have cake first. Which would you prefer, Uzura?"

The drum was instantly forgotten. "Cake zura!"

Chrestomanci smiled. "Cake it is, then."

Working together, they cleared Uzura's presents off the main table and replaced them on the side table. Fakir looked away while Chrestomanci lit the candles, but smiled as Uzura enthusiastically blew them out, and loudly announced that she wouldn't tell anyone her wish and it was "top secret zura". Once the candles had been removed Chrestomanci cut the cake, and presented the first slice to Uzura, who didn't bother to wait for everyone else to be served their portions before digging into it. By the time Fakir, Rue, and Chrestomanci herself had their slices, Uzura was more than halfway done eating hers, and demanded another piece when her mother had barely gotten halfway through her own.

But no sooner had that one been cut and Uzura had started shoveling great forkfuls into her mouth as Chrestomanci sat down to resume eating hers than they had an interruption. Footsteps rushing across the lawn caught their attention first, and then the visitor spoke – "Chrestomanci! A word!"

"Mr. Katz?" Chrestomanci looked up at him, a curious frown on her face. "Is something the matter?"

"Well… it's nothing terrible, and I do hate to interrupt…" His gaze strayed longingly to the cake and the glasses of milk, but then he shook himself and returned his attention to Chrestomanci. "But it is _very_ important. You see, we have… we have reason to believe that…" He lowered his voice, but not enough that Rue and Fakir weren't able to hear every word. "That your successor has at last been found…"

"What?" Chrestomanci's fork dropped onto her plate with a loud clink, the cake forgotten in an instant as she rose swiftly to her feet. "Are you certain? This is not something we can make a mistake about."

"Extremely certain, as certain as we can be." Mr. Katz nodded. "I have more information, but…" He trailed off with a significant look at the other three.

"I understand." Chrestomanci nodded. "I hate to leave just now, but this – well. I'll accompany you back to my office, shall I, and you can tell me everything there." She turned to Rue and Fakir. "My apologies, but do you think you can look after Uzura for a while? Something of immense importance has come up that I simply cannot ignore."

"Of course." Rue nodded, and so did Fakir. "Go on, we'll be fine till you can come back."

Uzura's attention was caught at last, and she looked up from the remnants of her second piece of cake. "Mama is leaving zura?"

"Only for a little while, I promise." Chrestomanci bent and hugged her daughter carefully. "I'll be back soon. Have fun with your presents and Rue and Fakir until then, all right? Mama will try not to take too long."

"All right zura." Uzura watched her mother hurry away, and then looked back at Fakir and Rue. "Can I have more cake zura?"

"Well…" Rue looked to Fakir, expecting him to sternly lay down the law about how much sugar she'd had already. "I don't kn –"

"Yes, you can," Fakir said gently. "But only because it's your birthday."

"Yay zura!"

He moved to cut the cake, and Rue hastened to stand beside him, her voice low as she spoke. "So, what do you think of what just happened? Chrestomanci's successor? Do you think they'll be coming to the castle to live with us?"

"I honestly don't know," Fakir said, in as neutral a tone as he could manage. Obviously, he wasn't opposed to a successor being brought to the castle – it was very important, after all – but at the same time the idea of dealing with some new person living with them sounded… bothersome, to say the least, for so many reasons. Especially when lessons were about to start up again soon and he wanted nothing more than to focus exclusively on them. "We'll have to just wait and see what happens."

"Yeah." Rue watched him serve the new slice of cake to Uzura, and shrugged. "I guess you're right."


End file.
